Rohit Pawar slams Kiren Rijiju's Ambedkar remarks, downplays Congress' solo BMC poll call

Mumbai, July 2 (IANS) NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday lashed out at Union Minister Kiren Rijiju over his remarks against the Congress party regarding Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, accusing the BJP of distorting historical facts and creating confusion among the public.

Rijiju, during the Maharashtra BJP state president's election on Tuesday, had alleged that the Congress insulted Dr. Ambedkar and claimed that the architect of the Indian Constitution died prematurely due to the stress caused by the party and his electoral defeats.

Pawar hit back, defending the Congress and accusing the BJP of peddling lies about history.

Speaking to IANS, he said, "BJP leaders do not speak the truth. They always try to change history. Whether it is the RSS or the BJP or people of their ideology, they do not contribute to the history of this country; they change history in one medium. This is why they come forward and give controversial statements. They are just trying to create confusion in the minds of the people."

The NCP (SP) leader also reacted to recent reports suggesting that the Congress may go solo in the upcoming BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.

A section of Maharashtra Congress leaders, in a meeting held in Delhi earlier this week, reportedly favoured contesting the civic elections alone, citing the risk of being sidelined within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) among others.

Responding to this, Pawar downplayed the development, saying such remarks may only reflect individual opinions.

"There are big Municipal Corporations -- Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur. All the leaders will sit together and then decide who will fight how. I don't think that a few leaders giving such statements, which might be their personal opinion, will have any kind of impact on the elections. However, the decision will be made by taking the party's district heads of the small Municipal Corporation in confidence," he said.

--IANS

sd/rad